Ep 11 - VC Insights Portage Ventures with Jonathan Metrick and Brendan Callaghan

We sat down with Jonathan and Brendan who work on the platform team at Portage Ventures, a fin-tech-focused venture capital firm. We learned what it’s like to transition from heading up marketing & sales at an operating company to advising portfolio companies within a venture capital firm.

Join our conversation as we discuss how to build trust with your partners and create a long-lasting relationship by offering value first. We cover the nuances of working in venture capital, the skills needed for the role, and career advice for anyone looking to level up. All this and more! 

Here’s What We Discussed: 

• [00:27] Jonathan Metrick and Brendan Callaghan share their backgrounds 
• [03:06] Brendan and Jonathan share why they decided to transition from an operating role to VC and the differences between the roles 
• [11:18] How success is measured in a VC role 
• [16:09] Portage is looking to build a longer-term relationship with their investments, not just provide capital 
• [21:30] Brendan and Jonathan share what about the world of VC appealed to them
• [25:15] How their roles as VCs have grown Brendan and Jonathan 
• [32:25] Career Advice: Schedule 3 coffees a week with people to have conversations and learn from them 
• [34:58] What skills in your previous roles provided you with an unfair advantage as a  VC?
• [37:05] How has COVID impacted the industry or your relationship with portfolio clients?
• [40:11] Jonathan shares what he misses about being an operator and what he’s gained as a VC  
• [44:53] Trends in the VC space: What’s getting funded these days  

About Our Speakers   

Jonathan Metrick, Chief Growth Officer at Portage Ventures – Jonathan Metrick is the Chief Growth Officer at Portage Ventures, helping build some of the world’s leading fintechs. During this time, Jonathan has also been the Fractional CGO at Wealthsimple.

Prior to joining Portage, Jonathan served as the CMO of Policygenius, America’s leading online insurance marketplace. At Pg, Jonathan built a growth marketing division of +45 and helped 10x revenue and achieve positive LTV in 3 years. Previously, Jonathan has held marketing leadership positions working with Tiffany & Co, Live Nation Entertainment, Diesel, Hult and Procter & Gamble.

Jonathan has an MBA with distinction (top 10%) from Harvard Business School.

Brendan Callaghan, VP Sales at Portage Ventures – Brendan is VP Sales at Portage, helping build some of the world’s leading fintech companies. A key member of any start up’s Management Team charged with generating and maintaining year over year growth. While developing/coaching staff and creating a successful sales organization. He is a sales leader with substantial hands on sales team management experience and high attention to bottom line results.

About Our Moderator

Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.

 

Quotes

“Building capability is another element of driving impact because the key thing you want to make sure you're doing is not about necessarily doing the work for them. But building capabilities so that they can internally do it themselves.” – Jonathan Metrick

 

“We [Portage] like to partner with our investment. We're not just capital. There are a lot of sources for entrepreneurs to get funding and we're aware of that. The reality is we come to the table with more than just capital. We're there to be used. We're there to support. And we do so freely across all of the investments.” – Brendan Callaghan 

 

“Don't rely on blogs, on books, or on classroom learning. Don't think that your internal job is gonna help you level up to the next. Make sure to schedule a lot of external meetings within your career with people outside of your four walls, your organization. That's what's going to level you up.” – Anish Shah 

 

“When I come in, I just try and add value. I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and do some of the work, and I think that helps build trust.” – Jonathan Metrick

 

ABOUT RUCKUS

We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!